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John Esther
Tomatometer-approved critic
Los Angeles, California
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Little Sister (2015) |
As emotionally superficial as a Hollywood movie by the likes of Nancy Myers or Cameron Crowe. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Jul 13, 2016
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Angel of Nanjing (2015) |
Solid in its scope, this inspiring 64-minute documentary by co-directors/producers Frank Ferendo and Jordan Horowitz offers a portrait of a man who gives his best for others. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Jul 13, 2016
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Zoolander No. 2 (2016) |
A noisy, often nonsensical, unfunny enterprise with lots and lots of cameos from some of the culture industry's most recognized faces. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Jul 13, 2016
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Jim: The James Foley Story (2016) |
To the documentary's credit it makes it clear from the beginning that this will not be a sensationalized hagiography of the 40-year-old murdered journalist. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Jul 13, 2016
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A Good Wife (2016) |
Serbian actor Mirjana Karanovic makes an impressive debut as director and co-writer in A Good Wife, a film about personal and political cancer in current Serbia. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Jul 13, 2016
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The Innocents (2016) |
Offers a harrowing yet hopeful picture of what good women (and one man) can do when they do choose to rebel against patriarchal power. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Jul 13, 2016
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Uncle Nick (2015) |
It certainly is a funnier holiday film than most holiday films. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Jan 03, 2016
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Love (2015) |
The film offers a lot more than most films attempting to convey human interaction or attempting to understand human love and its intercourse with sex. It is certainly more honest than most films... - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Nov 17, 2015
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I Smile Back (2015) |
Holding the film together is Silverman's tour-de-force performance. Involved in every scene, her "serious" acting holds the film together. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Nov 17, 2015
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Heart of a Dog (2015) |
The documentary glides on with few lulls, even if one does squint during its brief moments of silliness. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Oct 23, 2015
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Experimenter (2015) |
The film seems to believe, and illustrate, that the best way to learn is while having fun (not getting punished with pain); and Experimenter is one very playful, enjoyable film. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Oct 23, 2015
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The Assassin (2015) |
Other than human nature, the film suggests there was nothing ugly to witness during this period in time. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Oct 18, 2015
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Coming Home (2014) |
This is politically-fueled melodrama of a higher order. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Sep 10, 2015
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Dragon Blade (2015) |
The film barely passes the entertainment mustard. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Sep 05, 2015
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The Second Mother (2015) |
The story about a young woman coming from "the outside" and entering a particular milieu and shaking things up is not entirely new, but there is enough skill here to make this film worth viewing. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Aug 28, 2015
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Digging for Fire (2015) |
It is not important that a film contain likable characters -- far from it. But when the filmmakers behind the camera seem to like those characters, or be too forgiving for their faults, this is what you get. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Aug 21, 2015
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Top Spin (2014) |
Peppering the trials, tribulations and training of the three athletes is some spectacular table tennis action. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Aug 21, 2015
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The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015) |
Few films this frank about teenage sexuality are found in American cinema. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Aug 07, 2015
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Chorus (2015) |
A gritty, emotionally honest (and draining) film about coming to grips with the horrors life can throw at you at any given moment. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Jul 18, 2015
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Cronies (2015) |
The film skillfully blends gritty cinema and faux documentary interviews with the film's very skilled three leads. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Jul 18, 2015
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Things of the Aimless Wanderer (2015) |
It does not take long to realize Kivu Ruhorahoza's film is something special. Well, different at least. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Jul 18, 2015
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Eastern Boys (2013) |
The film tackles solidarity and solitude, economic class, language and lingering ages -- managing to remain engaging throughout most of its two hours-plus running time. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Jul 18, 2015
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The Hand That Feeds (2014) |
Members of the working and shrinking middle classes will have plenty to gain by investing in the price of a movie ticket to view this documentary. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Jul 18, 2015
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Gemma Bovery (2014) |
A film that could only be made in a country where literature is widely consumed and considered worthy of one's time, this is an entertaining, smart film with strong performances. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Jul 18, 2015
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Everything Before Us (2015) |
A highly enjoyable, smart, very funny, well written story about young people in love. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Jul 18, 2015
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Blood, Sweat, & Beer (2015) |
Having watched this entertaining documentary, it is time for some delicious craft beer. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Jul 18, 2015
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Tales of the Grim Sleeper (2014) |
Nick Broomfield's excellent documentary reveals how violence toward poor black women works in collusion between the personal and the political silence of members in the community... - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Jul 18, 2015
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All Mistakes Buried (2015) |
This story about self/drug abuse would be nowhere as remarkable were it not for Trammell's performance and McCann and Chris Kursel's editing choices. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Jul 18, 2015
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Lila & Eve (2015) |
So far, this is the worst film of 2015. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Jul 18, 2015
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Grandma (2015) |
Quick, sharp and superior to the similar Juno, Grandma runs with fresh humor, biting satire, a little craziness and feminist politics - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Jul 18, 2015
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French Dirty (2015) |
Written and directed by brothers Wade and Jesse Allain-Marcus, the 72-minute French Dirty is a film brimming with realism and authenticity. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Jul 18, 2015
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One Cut, One Life (2014) |
A bittersweet testimony to documentary filmmaking, collaboration and camaraderie - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Jul 18, 2015
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Spy (2015) |
The movie is loaded with various sorts of humor, from the absurd, to the grotesque to the underhanded satire on spy films. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Jun 05, 2015
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Testament of Youth (2014) |
A high school historical lesson with lots of violence and little sex (how Hollywood), the real Vera Brittain may have been a educated pacifist, but her youthful optimism, in a historical context, comes off as grossly naive. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Jun 04, 2015
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Infinitely Polar Bear (2014) |
A warm, touching story about family, the film is not without its social merits. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted May 12, 2015
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True Story (2015) |
'True Story' reminds us to take anything we view with a grain a salt and a sneer of incredulous while truly appreciating those who do not lie... - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Apr 17, 2015
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An Honest Liar (2014) |
"An Honest Liar" illustrates a rare phenomenon in documentary: what it means to think, to believe and to challenge what our very own eyes see, and more to the point, do not see. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Mar 06, 2015
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Purgatorio: A Journey Into the Heart of the Border (2013) |
An intellectually impressive and refreshingly angry documentary. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Dec 22, 2014
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Wild (2014) |
'Wild' is, surprisingly, a very entertaining film. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Dec 06, 2014
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Foxcatcher (2014) |
Simply put, this is well-done filmmaking with some extraordinary performances. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Nov 14, 2014
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The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears (2013) |
The film rarely maintains an image for more than a few seconds. Everything must be rapid, colorful and artsy, but it is an intellectual sham. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Aug 28, 2014
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The Trip to Italy (2014) |
'The Trip to Italy' is probably the most fun I have had at the movies so far this year. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Aug 15, 2014
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Life After Beth (2014) |
The film will no doubt have detractors in the mainstream press, but for those looking for something different, 'Life After Beth' rises above this somnambulistic summer of cinema. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Aug 14, 2014
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A Will for the Woods (2013) |
While the "green burial movement" does play a notable role here, the documentary's other strength is how it captures Clark coming to grips with his impending death. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Aug 13, 2014
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Around the Block (2013) |
'Around the Block' may have its exasperating flaws, but it cannot be accused of not having its heart in the right place. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Aug 01, 2014
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Planes: Fire & Rescue (2014) |
Firefighters do some very important and dangerous work. Even though the characters in 'Planes: Fire & Rescue' are made of metal...that is clear at the movie's most elementary level. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Jul 17, 2014
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Citizen Koch (2013) |
Co-directors Carl Deal and Tia Lessin (Trouble the Water) cohesively illustrate what happens when the bad financial powers-that-be cannot be stopped. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Jun 27, 2014
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A Coffee in Berlin (2012) |
Germany gets an updated look at the debris of its newest generation in terms of character, content, and concrete. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Jun 26, 2014
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Cesar's Last Fast (2014) |
An inspiring testimony to one of this nation's heroes. - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Apr 18, 2014
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Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) |
Or it could just be Jarmusch's attempt to bring to life the coolest couple of cinema ever. My Radiohead, are these vampires not hipsters to the nth power? - UR Chicago Magazine
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| Posted Apr 13, 2014
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